1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a web browser and methods thereof and more specifically to a web browser integrated with, for example, mail, chat and/or search functions having embedded content filtering and methods thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Information made available through the Internet in the form of Web Sites. Chat Rooms and Electronic Mail, is generally unregulated. Internet Directory Services and Search Engines such as Yahoo®, HotBot® and others can provide order to the subject matter of the vast amount of information available. However Directory Servers are generally limited to categorizing Web Sites based on Keywords supplied by the site's content provider. Actual content is generally not verified. Internet Search Engines typically provide results by matching the same Keywords to a specific user query to generate a list of matches for each specific query. Again, actual content of the matches is generally not checked. For some users, for example children, such unregulated access is undesirable. In addition, some young users have difficulty in navigating through the vast Internet resource and would benefit if assistance in accessing appropriate information could be made available.
Popular Internet Browsers such as the Netscape Navigator® and the Microsoft Internet Explorer® provide some of content screening. However, this screening is generally limited only to Web Sites and typically involves several levels of setup interaction on the part of a parent or guardian to become active. Typically, once active, the content screening is not user specific, thus where a parent might want to limit a child's access to some Internet content, the parent may not want all users limited in the same manner. Other solutions to content screening, for example stand alone solutions such as Surf Watch® or Net Nanny®, while also effective at limiting access to undesirable Web Sites, generally have the same limitations with regard to other sources of Internet content as the browsers. Another limitation of the content screening provided by currently available solutions is that it is typically focused only on sex, violence and the like, and thus is directed primarily to protecting children. The need for content screening, however, can extend beyond this current focus. For example, in some corporate environments where Internet access is desirable, often it would be more desirable if that access could be readily managed beyond the level that current Browser controls make available. In addition, it would be desirable if this content screening could be effected with little or no monitoring by corporate censors.
There is a need for Internet content regulation and/or screening that is not limited to only preventing access to undesirable Web Sites. This need for regulation extends to other sources of information available through the Internet such as Electronic Mail, Chat Rooms, News Groups and the like. In addition, it would be advantageous for this Internet content regulation to be available though an integrated solution, thus simplifying control of the criteria used for the screening process. It would also be desirable if this integrated solution could be tailored to meet a variety of needs, from those of young children to those of teens, young adults and others. Thus, it would be desirable if such an integrated solution could provide interactive assistance to help direct activities where appropriate within a friendly, engaging, graphical interface.